System fob handling viscous fluids



May 6 1924. 1,492,742

H. H. NORTON ET AL SYSTEM FOR HANDLING VISCOUS FLUIDS Filed NOV. 22 3.922

Patented May 6, 1924.

House. a. noa'ron' AND mm. '1. noses, or rmmnmm, rmmsvnvam.

, Eric.

I SYSTEM. FOR EANDLING'VISGOUS FLUIDS.

Application filed Royember 22, 1922. Serial lio. 802,682.

To all whom it may concern."

Be it known that we, Homnn H. NORTON and Emma E. Hoses, citizens of the United States of America, and both residing at Philadelphia, county of Philadelphia, State of Pennsylvania, have invented certain new and useful Improvements in a System for Handling Viscous Fluids, of which the following is a specification,

Our invention relates broadly to a means for withdrawing viscous fluids from reservoirs and more particularly to a preheating arrangement whereby the viscosity of said fluid is reduced to permit flow.

An object ofour invention is to provide a means for reducing the consistenc of a nonflowing fluid to that of a flowing uid.

Another object is to arrange said means within the fluid reservoir so that heating of the fluid may be concentrated at the suction outlet of the reservoir.

A further object is to superheat a portion of the fluid withdrawn from the reservoir and inject it back into the reservoir for heating the viscous fluid adjacent the reservoir suction outlet.

With the above and other objects in view the invention consists in the construction, combination and arrangement of parts as will be hereinafter more fully described.

Reference is to be had to the accompanying drawings forming part of this specification, in which like reference characters indicate corresponding parts throughout the, several views, and in which:

Figure 1 shows the pumping and heating arrangements,

Fig. 2 is a sectional view of a reservoir with withdrawal of fluid through the top thereof,

Fig. 3 is a similar view with withdrawal through the bottom,

4 is a similar view with withdrawal through the side,

Fig. 5 is a plan view of the heater nozzle a le ig. 6 is an enlarged view of the heating and outlet arrangement of Fig. 3.

a By placing a nozzle or system of nozzles at or near an outlet of a reservoir containing a viscous fluid, which fluid may be diflicult to move because of its high viscosity, and by introducing a heated fluid, which may or may not be of a composition similar to that of the main body of fluidin the reservoir, under pressure through the nozzle or system sage.

of nozzles the viscosity of the fluid in the vicinity o the outletis quickly reduced and by ejecting the heated or less viscous fluid in the direction of the outlet of the reservoir, the jet action resulting therefrom tends to maintain a steady flow of the reservoir contents towards the outlet.

Referring more particularly to Figure 1 Y of the drawings, 11 is a suction pump for withdrawing the fluid from a reservoir through a conduit 12 which connects to a.

manifold 13 from which suction pipes a, b, 0 and (1 lead to respective reservoirs. Fluid may be drawn throughany desired pipe through control given by manifold valves 14.

As any desired t pe of valve may be employed it is not t ought necessary thanindicate the same, and it W111 also be understood that while we have illustrated four suction ipes, either a less or greater number may e used. Located between the pump 11 and manifold 13 there is a'fluid circulating pump 15 which draws fluid from the conduit 12 and forces it under pressure through a heater 16, which may be of any desired type, thence through filters 17 to a manifold'18, from which pipes at, b',.c' and to more (1' lead to respective reservoirs,corresponding to pipes a, b, a, and d. Valves 19, similar to valves 14, open and close any desired pas- The construction of filters 17 forms no part of this invention. In series with different types of reservoirs X, allof which, if desired, may be connected to the pumping system, or a number of any one ty e may be connected. In the first of these res the withdrawal of the fluid is from the bottom through the to of the reservoir. Pi e a coming from t e manifold 13 exten s to within a short distance of the bottom of the reservoir and is surrounded by a nozzle ring 25, shown more'in detail in Fig. 5, connect ed to the superheated fluid pipe a leading from manifold 18. A lurality of nozzles 26 are so connected to t e ring 25 that they method of withdrawing the are inclined towards the mouth of ipe'e,

, the withdrawal is made through the side of tom of the reservoir, an

a, manifold 13 and conduit 12-, then pump the reservoir. In some instances the necessary location of the reservoirs may prevent the suction and superheatedfluid pipes from extending through the top, making it necessary to carry them through theside or hot; further, if more than one reservoir is used, it may be necessary to so place them that it becomes necessary to use two or more types of withdrawal. y

In operation: Suction pump 11 with draws fluid from reservoir X through pipe 15 is cut in extracting a ortion of the fluid from conduit 12 and :torcing it through heater 16, where it is heated to the desired temperature and discharged under suitable pressure through manifold 18 and pi e a to the system of nozzles 26 which are irected towards the suction outletiof the reservoir from which the fluid is being pumped. This superheated fluid dissipates its heat to the colder fluid with which it comes in contact, thus causing a reduction in the viscosity of the fluid in the vicinity of the outlet and the jet action caused by discharging the as fluid under pressure in the general direction of the outlet tends to maintain a steady flow of the heated fluid in the reservoir towards the outlet. The heated fluid has a tendency to'rise and collect near the surface because of its lesser density, and to prevent this upward movement of the heated fluid, a hood 33 is placed above the suction point of the outlet pipe. Pump 20 passes the less dense fluid through the heater 21 where it is further heated before passing. through the line 22 to the burners in a fuel oil burner system.

In starting up a system of this kind from a cold condition the fluid remaining from the last operation in heater 16 can be heated and with pump 15 forced against the cold fluid in the piping a. If th1s piping is not made too small the heated fluid will gradually trickle through the piping and arrive in the reservoir from which fluid is desired and thus slowily bring the system into operative condition. Or if a parallel system is in operation, heated fluid from the operat-. ing system can be introduced into the cold system through manifolds 13 and 18 until the cold system is brought into operation.

Our invention possesses the advantage of heat economy over present systems of heating whole reservoirs of viscous fluid with steam coils or recirculated heated fluid incense of heated fluid before it is finally pumped out. The local application of heat permits its useful employment so fast as the fluid is needed. The jet action also permits of usefully employing some of the energy being consumed by the pump. Saving in cost of installation results, as elaborate piping and heating coils in reservoirs are not necessary.

Having fully described our invention what we desire to obtain by Letters Patent is:

where much heat is lost from the great body 1. In a system for handling viscous fluid,

a reservoir for said fluid, an outlet therein, means for withdrawing the contents thereof through said outlet, means for extracting a portion of said withdrawn contents, means for heating said portion only, and means for returning said heated portion to the vicinity of said outlet.

2. In a system for handling viscous fluid,

a reservoir for said fluid, an'outle't therein,

means for withdrawing the contents thereof through said outlet, means for heating said withdrawn contents, 'means for returning heated fluid to the vicinity of said outlet,

and means deliverin said fluid in said vicinity in the form 0 a plurality of jets dii'ected towards and surrounding said out- 3. In a system for handling viscous fluid,

a reservoir for said fluid, an outlet therein,

means for delivering hot fluid into the body of said viscous fluid in the vicinity of said outlet, and means obstructing the rise of the resulting heated mixture from said vicinity.

4.. In a system for handling viscous fluid, a reservoir for said fluid, an outlet therein,

means for delivering hot fluid into the body of said viscous fluid in the vicinity of said outlet, and a bafiie covering said vicinity.

5. In a system for handling viscous fluid, a reservoir for said fluid, an outlet therein, means for delivering hot fluid into the body of said viscous fluid in the vicinityof said outlet, and a cone-shaped baflie covering said vicinity.

6. In a system for handling viscous fluid, a reservoir for said fluid, an outlet therein, and means for delivering hot fluid into the body of said viscous fluid including a series of nozzles directed towards and surrounding said outlet.

7. In a system for handling viscous fluid, a reservoir for said fluid, an outlet therein, means for withdrawing said. fluid throu b said outlet, means for separating the witdn drawn fluid into two portions, means for heating one portion independently of the other, and means for returning saidheated portion to the vicinity of said outlet.

8. In a system for handling viscous fluid, a reservoir for said fluid, an outlet therein, means for withdrawing said fluid through said outlet, a heater, a pump for extracting a we portion of said withdrawn fluid and forcing said portion through said heater to the exclusion of the main body of said withdrawn fluid, and returning said portion after heating under pressure independent of the pressure of said main body to the vicinity of said outlet.

9. In a system for handling viscous fluid, the method of rendering mobile congealed fluid of storage tanks which comprises forcing heated fluid into the tanks at high velocity in direct contact with the congealed fluid to render mobile a portion of the latter, removing the mobile mixture thus obtained, separating the removed mixture into two port-ions, heating one of said portions and returning it to the storage tank to render mobile a further amount of the congealed fluid.

10. In a system for handling viscous fluids, the method of progressively rendering mobile congealed fluid of storage tanks which comprises forcing heated fluid into the tanks in directcontact with the congealed fluid to render mobile. a portion of the latter, obstructing upward movement of the mobile mixture thus obtained, forcibly removing the mixture, heating a portion of the mixture and returning it to the storage tank to render mobile a further amount of congealed fluid.

11. In a system for handling viscous fluids, the method of progressively rendering mobile and removing congealed fluid of storage tanks which comprises continuously forcing heated fluid into the tank at the point of removal to render mobile the congealed fluid, preventing the escape of the mobile fluid from the point of removal, and forcibly removing the mixture at the rate it becomes mobile.

HOMER H. NORTON. ELMER E. HOBBS. 

